Birth of a Wildcard
by Binzz
Summary: The Great Pirate Era has been reignited with a brand new chapter, and countless new pirates are emerging from all four Blues with hopes of finding One Piece. Among them is a young man hailing from West Blue, making his debut in this vast sea ruled by Marines, Warlords, and Emperors - the "wildcard" pirate named Ebony Rustle!


_With the declaration of Whitebeard at the Battle of Marineford, the Great Pirate Era has been reignited with a brand new chapter._

 _Countless new pirates are emerging from all four Blues with hopes of finding One Piece, and among them is a young man hailing from West Blue._

 _Making his debut in this vast sea ruled by Marines, Warlords, and Emperors - the "wildcard" pirate named Ebony Rustle!_

 **:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::**

 **West Blue Saga**

 **Arc 1 : Birth of a Wildcard**

 **Episode 1 : First Stop, Skull Docks Isle!**

 **:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::**

 **:: 1 year past the Battle of Marineford**

 **:: In the waters of West Blue**

"At last!" exclaimed Rustle, as he saw the distant tavern lights of Skull Docks Isle.

He had been traveling for almost an entire day in search for this safehaven of an island, where pirates from all places can party and relax without the risk of being spotted by Marines.

It's because the island is naturally hidden among a number of larger islands, making it difficult to find the first time.

For extra precaution, some dwellers of the island also volunteered to serve as lookouts on the neighboring islands in case Marines were to pass nearby.

As the wind pushed his small sailing boat towards the island, he couldn't help but fall on his back with arms thrusted upwards in excitement.

"Oooh I can't wait! I can finally get my own crew!"

In addition to being a resting place for pirates, Skull Docks Isle also serves as a hub for recruitment of pirate crews.

Most pirates originating from West Blue first came here to gather a crew that will accompany them throughout their journey.

A couple of minutes later, he finally reached the island.

It was already night time, and the high tide was already halfway its peak height.

With the surrounding waves becoming more restless due to the evening wind, he hurriedly rowed his boat to the docking area.

After firmly tying the boat, he retrieved his bo-staff, inhaled a lungful of air, and exhaled it completely with one quick Hwoo!

"Alright, let's do this shi-" he cut short his sentence right after noticing a lone figure among the nearby waters.

There was a topless man surfing alone, riding the waves on top of a surboard-like thing that Rustle couldn't figure out exactly, but nevertheless was amazed.

"Aaah! So cool! I wanna learn how to surf too!" he said, but shortly thereafter, poised himself and reassured his more important agenda.

"Wait. No. First things first! I have to get a crew!"

So he proceeded towards the taverns with his staff in tow.

A short distance from the docking area, he reached the area filled with taverns and pirates galore.

 _Whoa! It really is a heaven for pirates. Wait. Haven? Heaven? Haven? Ah screw that._

He then scanned the area for potential recruits.

 _Hmmm let's see..._

After surveying the area, the place was indeed bustling with pirates all over.

Outside each tavern, there were drunk pirates, singing and laughing on top of makeshift tables.

There were also some who were brawling on the muddy ground while others cheered them on.

At the boardpost, located at the center of the tavern area, scouts were shouting all over for recruits.

And at the dark unlighted sides of each tavern, shady deals and trades of who-knows-what were being made by who-knows-who.

Itching to jump all over the place and invite people to join his crew, he delayed himself when he heard a loud crashing sound from inside the nearest tavern.

With eyes seemingly preferring to start there, he rushed inside.

The sight was even more astonishing.

It was the same scenario as outside but more intense, more pirate-y.

It was as if the chaos outside was packed into a small space and it gave birth to a whole new meaning to it.

 _Amaziiing! So THIS is a pirate!_

No longer able to hold in his excitement, he started jumping all over the place.

From person to person, he invited them to join his crew, but never stopped to listen to their reply as he jumped to another as if preferring that person better.

Then, as a sudden loud roar came from a farside table, he spotted a tall bulky man stepping on a tabletop while doing a victory pose after winning what seems to be a drinking contest.

Amazed again by what he just saw, he rushed towards the man with a beaming smile.

"Hey! You look strong! Wanna join my crew?"

The man and the rest inside the tavern suddenly went silent, staring at Rustle with surprised and doubtful expressions on their faces.

After almost a second or two, they burst into a fit of laughter.

"Bwahahaha! D'you here that men? The boy wants to recruit me? Ain't that hilarious!" remarked the man, and the entire tavern raised the volume even more.

"Hey boy! Where're you' mommy and daddy? You' lost or something?"

During all the teasing and laughing, the expression on Rustle's face went from surprise to pissed off.

But then, he clicked his tongue, calmed himself down, and partially-turned his back on the man.

"Sorry. My mistake," said Rustle.

He turned his head slightly to the face the man.

With a bored expression on his face, he continued, "You don't seem to be that strong at all."

The man was stunned. And a second later, he snapped back.

"What d'you say boy? YOU' PICKIN' A FIGHT?"

"Are you deaf or something? You're just a waste of my time," replied Rustle as he slowly approached the tavern exit.

As he neared the exit, the man grinded his teeth in growing rage towards the insult.

But just as Rustle was halfway-passed the swinging door, the man blurted out a comeback.

"Ha! You just talk big, little boy! You' just some cowardly chicken!"

Rustle stopped, then coolly replied.

"What did you just say?"

"I saaaid. You' one. Big. Cowardly. CHICKEN!" repeated the man.

Rustle paused momentarily again, then replied two taunting words, "Outside. Now."

Rustle proceeded to exit through the door, and the man followed after chugging down another mug of ale.

Unbeknownst to Rustle and the rest, all this commotion was being witnessed by a mysterious hooded person in the tavern who was silently standing beside a window.

The hooded person then followed as well along with the rest of the people who wanted to watch the fight.

 **:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::**

Moments later, just outside the tavern, the two were facing and sizing each other at a distance.

The man broke the tension with a taunt, "Heh. Prepare to die, little boy. I'll show you what a true pirate really is. And it's not some children's game for you to play."

With a straight face, Rustle taunted back, "Cut the chit-chat, doofus. I'll let you attack if you want."

The man snorted and replied, "Fine by me."

He then pulled out a large saber, as long and as wide as the size of his arm, brandished it momentarily, and with eyes popping wild with bloodlust, he charged towards Rustle and slashed.

Rustle flawlessly dodged the attack and repositioned himself, making it look effortless.

Surprised and enraged at the same time, the man continued to press forward with a flurry of slashes.

Rustle continued to dodge while maintaining his composure.

Slash. Sidestep. Hack. Duck.

All the while, Rustle didn't counterattack, and this allowed the man to gain momentum and finally land a slash at Rustle's cheek but only with the tip of his saber.

Though not looking surprised, Rustle backed away a significant distance, and rubbed the blood off his cheek with the back of his hand.

The man chuckled and taunted once more, "Hurt, little boy? There's more where that came from!"

And without sparing any time, the man charged again towards Rustle.

Having enough and deciding to end the fight, Rustle one-handedly spun his staff behind him in quick fashion and maneuvered it to strike the man's ankle.

Due to the unexpected force of the sweep, the man's sturdy body gave way, causing him to fall on his side.

Embarassed, the man scuffled to his feet. Now at the peak of his rage, he charged and slashed a final time.

Rustle dodged the slash then thrusted his staff onto the ground beside the man.

He used the leverage of the thrusted staff to jump above the man, pulled his staff, and lifted its further end higher.

With all his strength, he swung it onto the back of the man's head and the sheer force of the strike knocked the man out.

Rustle landed on his feet thereafter, while the man tumbled down senseless.

The crowd then roared in astonishment. The hooded person was surprised and impressed as well.

But after noticing that Rustle still had a serious aura about him, the crowd fell silent.

Rustle then turned to face the unconscious body of the man.

He slightly lifted his head and glared down at the man, then spoke loud enough for the crowd to hear as well.

"Don't you ever..."

The crowd murmured in observation, "Oh, he's still angry."

Rustle reiterates, "...ever..."

The crowd murmured again, "Well, the guy was a jerk."

Rustle shouts, "...CALL A CHICKEN A COWARD!"

The crowd exclaimed in unison, "IDIOT! YOU WERE MAD AT THAT?!"

 **:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::**

After everything settled down and the crowd went back inside the tavern, Rustle was brushing off dirt from his clothes, while continuing to rant about the man and how the whole situation got him dirty.

And after some time, the hooded person slowly approached Rustle.

Rustle noticed the hooded person before it even started to speak and asked hot-temperedly, "What do you want? Wanna insult a chicken too?"

And out of the mysterious vibe that the hooded person gave off, it became flustered and it waved its head and hands vigorously, "Ah! N-no! No no no no no!"

Rustle then tilted his head in confusion and curiosity, "Hm? You're..."

The hooded person then shrieked and froze, while Rustle continued with a questioning tone, "...a girl?"

Moments later, the two were at the back of a tavern where the hooded person has unveiled its identity.

It was a young maiden clothed in a full-white dress underneath, with a blue-ribbon knot pinned with a brooch at the center-collar area.

She had a brown well-groomed hair and a fair white skin, but her face was constantly flushed due to her agitation.

"P-please! Please take me with you!" stuttered the girl.

Rustle replied with a doubtful tone, "Uhm, you see. I don't think you're cut out to be a pirate."

"I-I promise I won't be a bother! J-just let me travel with you!" insisted the girl with a stubborn look on her face.

"Eh? But why me? There are other people recruiting as well over there."

"Well, uhm, they look...scary."

"Hey! I can look scary too! Watch me!"

Rustle then proceeded to imitate a growling bear, obviously offended by the girl's statement.

The girl panicked again and apologized, "N-no! Sorry! Th-that's not what I meant! You look strong. No. You ARE strong!"

Delighted, Rustle replied, "Eh? I do huh? Hmmm. Okay then. Let me think for awhile."

Rustle squinted his eyes, folded one of his arms, then rested the elbow of the other on top of it while stroking his beardless chin.

Upon doing so, the girl noticed the still-bleeding wound on his cheek.

She immediately went through her satchel and brought out some first-aid tools.

While Rustle was still pondering, she proceeded to dab a wet cotton on his wound.

"Eh?"

Half a second passed before he realized.

"OWWWWWWWWW! OW OW OW OW OW!"

"S-sorry! P-please be steady. Let me treat your wound as a payment for letting me join you."

While trying to calm down and endure the pain, Rustle realized something, "Hm? Wait. Are you a doctor?"

The girl was slightly surprised and replied, "Huh? Oh y-yes. I-I mean no. I-I mean... Well... I'm not a full-fledged doctor just yet. At least on my own terms, I'm not. But I dream to be a very good doctor in the future. So p-please! Please count on me from now on!"

Taken aback by her unusual tone of voice, she became flustered again and followed up, "I-I mean, only if you want to! To count on me, that is..."

After carefully listening, Rustle replied, "Oh. So is that why you want to be a pirate?"

"Yes. I believe that in order to be a good doctor, I need to travel and learn to be one myself."

With that response, Rustle smiled and looked far into the night sky, "A dream huh? That's good."

He then turned his back, picked up his staff, and gave his decision, "Alright then. I've decided. You can be a part of my crew."

The girl became thrilled, "R-really? Thank you so mu-"

"In one condition."

"Huh? C-condition?"

Rustle jumped on a nearby stack of crates, pointed his staff towards her, and challenged her, "If you want to be a pirate in order to achieve your dream, fine by me. But if you should dream, you must dream big! I don't need a just good doctor. I need the greatest doctor a captain could ever want for! In the sea we're about to face, good enough is not good enough. So strive to give your best! And I promise that if you do, I'll help you be the best. So now, what do you say?"

Inspired by his speech, she gave a glowing smile and an approving nod, and with all her might, shouted, "YES!"

And with this firm agreement, they proceeded to the other taverns as the moon shone high up in the sky as witness to the beginning of their wild adventure towards and across the sea of dreams.

 **:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::**

 _Hi guys! Binzz here. Uhhh so for introductions, I'm an aspiring writer that time won't allow to truly be._

 _I've had various ideas for novels in the past, and right now I have two that I plan to write in the unknown future._

 _Regarding what those two ideas are about, I'll be posting it in my profile sometime soon (along with my profile, of course)._

 _So with that said, since present time won't allow me to majorly commit to writing these ideas, I decided to go write a fan fiction in the mean time._

 _I mean, why not? It's light enough for me. I'm an avid anime fan (just the right amount, I believe), and an OP fan at that._

 _I've already been creating OCs before, and this story of mine is only a birthchild of those creative ideas._

 _So without any further ado, I'm going to leave you with this, and I hope you enjoy the story as much as I do._

 _Expect more chapters to come, so read on and prosper. Cheers!_

 _PS: If ever you're bewildered, or maybe just plain wondering, the name of the girl will be revealed in the next chapter_

 _PS#2: Oh yeah. If you have questions or anything, comment away in the reviews section. I won't bite, and I do wish you won't as well. Hehe_


End file.
